This post is written as part of AOL Money & Finance's Best & Worst 2006. If there's no one you'd like to see lose a fortune more than Bill Gates, be sure to cast your vote.

After one too many Windows blue screens of death (and isn't just one really one to many), who wouldn't fantasize about Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) founder and former CEO Bill Gates losing all his money? Uber-nerd Gates has been listed as the wealthiest person on earth for more than a dozen years, with a recent estimated net worth at more than $50 billion. In 1999 Gates' wealth briefly surpassed $100 billion, making him the world's first centibillionaire. His family ranks second only to the family of Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton as the wealthiest family in the world.

On the other hand, since 2000 Gates has donated more than $25 billion to scientific research programs and charitable organizations through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He has appeared on the cover of Time magazine eight times, and his home in Medina, Washington, is one of the most expensive houses in the world, with an annual property tax estimated at just under $1 million. In 1994 Gates bought at auction a collection of writings by Leonardo da Vinci for more than $30 million. In 2004 he became a director of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. (NYSE:BRK.A), the investment company headed by longtime friend Warren Buffett (who also appears in the signature style category of the Best & Worst 2006).

In May 2006 Gates said in an interview that he wished that he wasn't the richest man in the world, because he disliked the attention it brought. Isn't that a problem more of us wish we had to struggle with?

One of the things I did not know about the new Microsoft operating system --- Windows Vista --- is that it will be able to save business money by virtue of just being used. Although Microsoft uses TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) in its sales pitches for almost all of its products, this claim that Windows Vista will save on other costs just by being used sounded a little hokey to me. So, let's check one of the larger claims out.

Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) claims that small but subtle changes it made to the Vista operating system can actually help companies save on energy costs. Maybe the energy saved is a small amount, but it does add up over time to a sizable portion of energy savings. We won't know what measurement method Microsoft used until the research is released by ole' Softie.

The case Microsoft will have to make will be a financial case that outlines the costs of upgrading to Vista and how those installations will save companies on energy costs, which has a measurement method and time frame that is quite nebulous at the moment.

If Microsoft can prove that Vista's control over standard desktop computers can allow measurable energy conservancy that translates into bottom-line savings, it may have a winner here.

[Disclosure: I won MSFT shares as of 10-17-06]

Will Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) have a happy holiday season this year? Well, maybe, but it's a long shot if it is looking for the lift from the about-to-be-released Vista operating system. First of all, the system will only become available to OEM manufacturers and computer sellers at the end of November. This is the last possible moment for PC makers to get Vista onto machines, and hopefully, the new systems featuring the Vista operating system would pump up holiday sales. If PC makers have ad plans now for holiday-season PC sales featuring Vista preloads, they better hope Microsoft doesn't slip on this one.

Microsoft will come out with the retail version of Windows Vista in January after several high-profile delays over the years, and that's when end customers will finally be able to buy the vaunted but oft-delayed operating system upgrade. The largest question on the minds of analysts, though, is if demand will materialize for Vista or if customers will opt to stick with Windows XP, which is stable enough now (without Internet Explorer's bugginess) to suffice for most PC-related tasks.

The Vista previews and release candidates I've seen sure are pretty and look fantastic -- with a very new PC, that is. In terms of utility, I'm not that convinced, but I also haven't seen Vista Premium either. That may change my mind, but I'm still not that sure. The bridge from PC task to home entertainment control (music, movies, DVR capability, etc.) has surely not been built by Microsoft very well, although there are accessories that will make this gap less painful for the technically adventurous.

But, about four months from now (perhaps a little longer), we'll all know if Vista is going to be the hit that Microsoft and MSFT investors need, helping the share price to climb out of the year-over-year funk that's lasted for years now. So, are you planning on buying a Vista system? Talk back and let me know.

[Disclosure: I own MSFT shares as of 10-13-06]

With all the high-profile lapses recently in the launch of Microsoft's new operating system, Windows Vista, one could place bets all over the craps table as to when the new cash cow for Microsoft will actually launch. I believe there has been no less then three postponements so far in the operating system's release. Eeek!

Well, at least there is *another* solid opinion, and this time it comes straight from Microsoft co-founder and Chief Software Architect Bill Gates. He says that Windows Vista has an "80% chance" of shipping in the most recently-revised target timeframe of January 2007.

Well, that's just dandy, but it's not 100%, is it? With constant delays and feature pull-outs, this operating system release must be the software-muscle equivalent of sending a manned mission to Mars.

With Gates mentioning China as possibly the largest market for Windows Vista (no surprise there), it must be taking an unreal amount of time for all the testers to chime in with feedback on the beta versions of Windows Vista and for Microsoft to fix all the bugs. With Gates saying that almost $9 billion is being spent on Vista development along with the newest version of Microsoft Office (version 2007), this new operating system had better be worth the price. And let's hope $9 billion is enough to bring some kind of stability to the PC universe.